APRIL 27: Dan Duggan of The Athletic notes uncertainty over Schoen’s future has largely originated from outside the organization. Nevertheless, he reports Aponte is viewed around the league as a potential Schoen successor. The post-draft stage of the offseason will be worth watching closely in the case of the Giants.
APRIL 22: We have not seen a post-draft GM firing in a while, but that point on the calendar has brought changes in the not-so-distant past. The Jets and Texans each canned GMs (Mike Maccagnan, Brian Gaine) after the 2019 draft, while the Bills fired Doug Whaley following the 2017 draft.
Maccagnan and Whaley were fired months after those AFC East organizations hired a new head coach (Adam Gase, Sean McDermott), and both HCs then played central roles in identifying GM successors. These examples are eerily similar to this Giants offseason, which has seen major changes outside of the GM chair.
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Joe Schoen helped the Giants land John Harbaugh, but the latter insisted on reporting to ownership. Ownership greenlit that change to land the Super Bowl-winning HC and would not have done so for another candidate, but Schoen was rumored to be an impediment to that potential change during a three-day wait for the Giants’ Harbaugh hire to become official.
It stood to reason Schoen would be against a change that increased a head coach’s authority, but the Giants’ struggles during his GM tenure did not give the fifth-year Big Blue boss much of a case to prevent it. A report during the Harbaugh pursuit indicated a likely willingness for the high-profile coach to work with the Giants’ holdover GM, but Schoen did have to answer questions about his presence preventing the team from hiring a quality coach.
Later in the offseason, we heard the Giants’ Dawn Aponte hire (as senior VP of football operations and strategy) stripped power from Schoen. That February report indicated Schoen had essentially been “relegated to handling scouting” while the “rest of the building reports to Dawn.” Teams regularly retain scouting staffs through drafts, as to ensure continuity ahead of the event, before making changes on that level. While GM switches at that juncture are rare, the late-2010s moves show they are not unprecedented. With Schoen running the scouting (and Harbaugh and Aponte siphoning power), dot connecting here regarding a post-draft change is not too difficult.
Schoen should indeed be considered in jeopardy of being fired following the draft, SportsBoom.com’s Jason La Canfora notes. The veteran Giants GM, who has overseen a 13-38 record since a surprising 2022 playoff berth, is considered in “very real danger” of losing his job soon, per La Canfora.
This would be a hard-luck firing, given Schoen’s contributions in running the Giants’ HC search amid John Mara’s battle with cancer, but the team’s on-field struggles — which led to Brian Daboll‘s in-season ouster — certainly warrant a change. Harbaugh throwing his weight around to identify a GM to work alongside him would make sense. Harbaugh’s hire resulted in organization-wide changes, to the point long-running staffer Kevin Abrams was booted in January, and scouting-side moves are assuredly coming post-draft.
Schoen, 46, came over from the Bills with Daboll in 2022. He worked for the Dolphins and Panthers previously during an NFL career that has spanned 25 years. He has spoken of collaboration occurring between GM and HC this offseason, as Harbaugh will be heavily involved in the draft room when the Giants are deliberating.
“The early returns on that, it’s been great,” Schoen said (via the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz) of collaboration between the GM and HC. “Coach Harbaugh is passionate about the draft. I’m passionate about the draft. My staff is passionate about it. Just the ongoing football conversations, sitting in the film room with him, whether it’s walking through the board or watching the film. It’s been a lot of fun.
“We’ve spent a lot of time together working through not just first-rounders, second-rounders. He knows about fourth- and fifth-rounders. He’s sending me text messages asking me about maybe undrafted free agents, or he saw an article or an agent might have texted him. It’s been a lot of fun being in these meetings and watching film with him.”
A separate report (from EssentiallySports.com’s Tony Pauline) indicated Harbaugh has not been especially collaborative lately, with a source close to the situation indicating “John knows what he’s going to do and John’s not talking to anybody!” The Giants hold two first-round picks, and several pathways have emerged regarding the team’s draft approach post-Dexter Lawrence. Schoen extended Lawrence in 2023 but saw the defensive tackle become disillusioned with the franchise’s direction. Letting Saquon Barkley and fellow first-team All-Pro Xavier McKinney walk in free agency did not age well for Schoen.
GMs rarely receive second chances, and Schoen will have next to no chance at another GM gig if he is fired post-draft. It would stand to reason the veteran exec would land in a prominent non-GM role elsewhere if fired, but his Giants employment should be considered a situation to closely monitor coming out of this weekend’s draft.
Now this is a Chicago Bears move. The Bears already did this with Rod Graves where he already took a job with the Cardinals and the Bears let him run their draft before he left. Here draft our players for us but after the draft take a hike. That’s a real motivational boost. Don’t copy stupid moves by Bears Mgmt. It’ll just make you look foolish. I mean more than usual.
I get where you’re coming from, but I think this is less of a big deal than that. It seems pretty clear that Harbaugh already has more power than Schoen over big personnel moves, presumably including those two first rounders. Even teams that fire and replace their GMs usually end up waiting until after the draft to overhaul their scouting departments because there isn’t enough time to build a new system and draft prep in the 2-3 months between a new regime taking over and the draft. Your in-house scouting reports from during the college season, for instance, were going to come from Schoen’s guys anyway.
My goodness. I remember that now you brought that up. The Bears management history is filled with acts of ineptitude. Hopefully that’s now turning around. Uncle, I don’t know if I should respect you’re knowledge of Chicago sports history or dislike you for bringing up bad memories.
Trash organization. If you do not trust this person you need to move on immediately.
I wouldn’t fire him if he drafts Downs & Styles.
Make it an OSU trifecta and draft Kayden McDonald DT! Doubtful he’s still there for them in the 2nd round though.
He’s not drafting….this is Harbaugh and Dawn calling the shots not Schoen…..
I don’t understand the point in firing him after the draft. Why didn’t they do after the season. At this point might as well hold onto him.
Well, they’re basically letting Schoen wrap up the season and then moving on. It is bad for him, because he misses out on job openings to interview for at the opening of the offseason, but the GM’s season usually ends at the draft, in a manner of speaking. It’s too late for New York to re-analyze the players at this point, and probably too late to do it earlier when they were focused on luring g Harbaugh and hiring his staff and adding players in free agency. If they fired Schoen then, they’d have to replace him as GM, but also probably have to re-evaluate the scouting department too, all before actually scouting the players again. I suppose they figured that it was better to just use Schoen’s scouting and draft grades and have him there, and move on later if he doesn’t end up able to work with Harbaugh and Dawn in this new setup.
I get why starting fresh is good, but I would wager that this is why the Giants did this this way. Hiring a coach with such control as Harbaugh has is bigger transition than a coach who is limited more to just Xs and Os, I think.
Also they have a handy excuse if this draft sucks for them. They’ll be able to blame Schoen (fairly or unfairly) while giving Harbaugh a chance at next year with the clean slate narrative.
Nooyawk Sportsball Media crucified the Jets for sacking their GM after the Draft. Now it looks like the Giants might do the same. Such a move would be welcomed by the Nooyawk Sportsball Media.
After all, the Giants are the most entitled team in the NFL.
ChuckyNJ is the most entitled poster on Pro Football Rumors.
Why would you let an outgoing GM do the draft if he knows he is getting fired? Replace the GM after the season so the next GM picks his own players
instead of releasing the old GMs players after 2 years like with Washington
One of those situations where he drafts relatively well but is a lousy GM in the rest of the areas. Let him scout and stick to that. Paper GM.
I’d argue he’s made some solid free agent and trade acquisitions.
Signing Adebo, Holland, and a few others. Trading for Burns without giving up a single first round pick and getting a fifth back, etc.
I don’t know if the non Raven signings from this year were him or not but getting Calvin Austin and Mooney were steals imo. Austin is incredibly talented but hasn’t been used correctly to date imo, and Mooney is an excellent defense stretcher when healthy. Newsome was also a solid replacement for Flott.
When you add in the draft and a healthy Skattebo to pair with Tracy running behind a dominant fullback, I think New York could be decent this year.
The NFL is particularly skilled at creating executive job titles that sound impressive but are really ambiguous in terms of actual job description. Joe Schoen seems like the perfect candidate for one of those positions with the Giants.
As the Assistant to the Regional Manager’s Senior Emeritus Top Poster for General Manager Matters at Pro Football Rumors, I approve this message.
you’re not getting my job, Champ. But I’m looking for an Asst. Undersecretary to help me fulfill my duties, so I might consider you for that.
Joe Schoen’s responsibilities need to be trimmed to getting coffee, donuts and bagels for the organization’s morning meeting.
He could easily have drafted Styles and Downs and immediately transformed the D. I don’t understand how guys like this get a job like this and then keep it. Meanwhile, let’s see if Dart Skat Nabers are all healthy and if the O really clicks.
He drafted arguably the best defensive player in the draft and arguably the best OL in the draft. Giants draft class has A or A+ grades across the board. There’s plenty to knock Schoen on but this appears to have been his second straight great draft.
They fell into his lap, but he still gets credit. And a high #1 for Lawrence, when he had no leverage, was real slick.
do you think there’s any chance whatsoever that Schoen drafted anybody that Harbaugh didn’t want?
@Mengis2: “do you think there’s any chance whatsoever that Schoen drafted anybody that Harbaugh didn’t want?”
I mean, there’s no way of knowing this but I’d bet that you’re right. However, as @JoeBrady said, he still gets credit here. He’s the GM and every analyst seems to think the Giants killed it in this draft.
that’s exactly my point, the above poster is saying how can Schoen keep his job after not getting the guys the poster wanted, and I’m saying he had to get the green light from Harbaugh anyway, so don’t heap it all on Schoen, and you’re saying the converse which is making the same point, really…
I’d argue that Reese alone transforms their D.
They also have Holland, don’t forget.
I think Schoen has done an okay job other than letting certain guys walk.
If you look at who the Giants have drafted in recent years, only Banks stands out as a true high round bust. Maybe Neal as well. Time will tell on that. He’s gotten solid players in the mid and late rounds and brought in very good marquee players like Adebo, Holland, Burns, etc. He’s also drafted players like Tracy, Wan’Dale Robinson, Skattebo, etc in addition to Nabers, Carter, and Thibs. He’s also made pretty solid under the radar signings, including this season.
If Harbaugh is responsible for this year’s draft picks though then yeah Schoen is definitely gone.
Agree on most of your points but you’re being too kind to Neal. Neal is definitely a bust, even moreso than Deontae Banks. Banks at least has shown some usefulness as a returner. Neal has been flat out useless. Maybe Harbaugh can unlock something in him but I wouldn’t put money on that happening.
Did Schoen hire Harbaugh or did Mara hire Harbaugh? I’m willing to bet Mara did and Harbaugh made their picks. A guy like Harbaugh picks his GM, not vice versa. My money is on Schoen being gone soon.